Photos - Forty Hours Concludes with Solemn Mass and Procession

The grand conclusion of our Forty Hours Devotion was held on Sunday, October 17 with a Solemn High Tridentine Latin Mass with the Resurrection Choir and Orchestra singing Schubert’s Mass in B Flat. The Mass which was the External Solemnity of our parish patron, Saint John Cantius, was celebrated by the Rev. C. Frank Phillips, C.R. The Mass was followed by a solemn procession with the Blessed Sacrament around the inside of the Church. Members of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as various religious attended.

Music for the Solemn High Mass and Processionby the Resurrection Choir and Orchestra

Mass No.3, D.324, Op.141
Franz Peter Schubert (1797 – 1828)

Panis Angelicus
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

Os Justi
Joseph Leopold Eybler (1765-1846)

Ave Verum, K 618
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (1756 – 1791)

Tantum Ergo, K 197
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. (1756 – 1791)

The 40 Hours Devotion was a graced time for our parish family. It was a time for us to come before the Blessed Sacrament and thank God for his graces, to make reparation to Him for our past sins, to pray for the sick and to beg God’s protection of our nation.

This devotion began certainly by the early Middle Ages as the Catholic faithful longed to show their affection for our Lord present in the Holy Eucharist. In 1548 Philip Neri was inspired to introduce the 40 hours devotion to Rome. Since then all the Holy Fathers have recommended this devotion to the Church.

In the Nicene Creed that we Catholics profess each Sunday, we proclaim that Christ was in the tomb for “three days.” In the ancient world, the Jews counted any part of a day as “a day.” In other words, Our Lord died at 3:00 p.m. on Friday (day one), descended into the limbo of the fathers to save the righteous who had died, (day two), and rose triumphant on Easter morning (day three). Counting the time by hours, however, we can see that from 3:00 PM Friday to 6:00 AM Sunday add up to a total of 40 hours. This is the origin of the 40 hours devotion.

During the Forty Hours Devotion, Mass is offered, the hours of the Divine Office are chanted, Confessions are heard, and the Rosary is prayed. Additionally, there is much time for silent adoration of the Holy Eucharist during the Forty Hours of Eucharistic Adoration.

In an address to the International Eucharistic Congress, Pope Pius XII told the audience that the risen Savior never really left the earth.

“He is both in heaven and on earth. The same identical Jesus whom the angels and saints behold in the beatific vision in heaven is at the same time present with us in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.”